


A World Unknown

by MysticAmyCat101



Category: Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Almost everyone at least, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Everyone Is Gay, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ships subject to change - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-28 05:55:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16235540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticAmyCat101/pseuds/MysticAmyCat101
Summary: A world left broken. People left behind. A virus that failed to stop. And those who rose to fight.It's been months since a strange virus broke out nationwide and left states and cities in ruins. Many died only to come back with the consistent longing for flesh.(I'm bad at summaries but uh basically zombie apocalypse au ma dudes. Aiming for multiple chapters)





	1. Chapter 1

Months. Weeks. Days. Hours. Minutes. Seconds.

They all meant nothing in a world like this. Days bleed into each other. Minutes turn to hours. The name of months slip from your head. No matter how desperately you try to keep track, you always forget. In a world like this, there's no time to remember. No time to remember what it was like before. No time to try and figure out what day or year or month it is. No time.

 

    Naegi always felt like they had no time. He would never admit this out loud of course. Giving in to the pessimistic views of his friends was something he never planned to do. All it would do was bring them down. He was their ray of hope, so they said. The person who kept them going. If he admitted these thoughts, it’d be like sniffing out that last flickering hope they had in them. The hope that things could get better.

 

“Naegi, are you even listening?”

He was pulled back to reality at Byakuya’s sharp tone, letting out a nervous laugh as an answer. He hadn't even realized how far he drifted off into his thoughts. That tended to happen a lot, to a point where none of the others seemed all too surprised or irritated when they needed to fill Naegi in on something that was just explained.

 

“I'll take that as a no then,”the platinum blond sighed, adjusting his glasses as he fell back a bit so he was walking beside Naegi. 

 

“We were just discussing about where to spend the night. If you haven't noticed, we've been walking through the forest for a few hours and some of us are starting to grow weary. Not to mention, it's becoming late and it's unwise to keep travelling in the dark,” Byakuya explained, pulling at the cuffs of the frayed white suit jacket he insisted on wearing. It was tearing in several places and dirt stained it's once smooth fabric but he refused to wear anything else, claiming that it was the last thing that made him look and feel sophisticated in this world.

 

“Why did we walk into the woods in the first place again? It's like, totally not a good idea to be stuck in such an big open area like this. Gives me bad vibes, y'know,” Hagakure said, running his hand nervously over the hilt of the machete that was tied firmly to his waist in a makeshift holder of sorts.

 

“To try and find that small town. The one that claimed to be a safe haven,” Byakuya replied and Naegi noticed the sour look that slipped onto the males face as soon as the words left his mouth. Ever since they saw the sign, painted red letters on top of a billboard, declaring the location of the haven and it's supposed safety, he'd been doubtful of its legitimacy. He voiced his doubts of course, trying to warn them it could be a trap, but he was the only one who didn't believe in the haven. And he couldn't very well survive on his own. 

 

“Oh, right. But, we don't even know if we're heading in the right direction, do w-”

 

Hagakure yelped as Kirigiri, who had been in the lead of the group, suddenly came to a halt. He crashed into her back but she somehow managed to stay on her feet, not even stumbling at the collision. She was perfectly still, her eyes scanning the area from where she stood. Noticing her sudden alertness, the others were quick to catch on to her suddenly tense vibe. They've done this before, in similar situations where they found themselves in unknown territory and in danger. In the forest, they were surrounded by trees and the shrubbery made it hard to see what was coming, which meant they had to be even more alert than ever.

 

They all drew their weapons, Naegi yanking the baseball bat out of his backpack and turning his back to the others, so he could be their eyes from behind. The bat was a fairly simple weapon, cloth wrapped around its handle for a better grip and nails beat into its top to make it “deadlier”, as Fukawa(or rather, Sho) had said after improving the weapon.

Naegi shot a quick glance at those who usually flanked his right and left, Byakuya and Asahina. Hagakure and Fukawa covered the center of their small circle. And Kirigiri always took the front.

 

Byakuya had a hard grip on the survival knife he'd found only a few weeks ago, a replacement for the gun that was down to its last few bullets that he had preferred using. It was still tucked away in his bag but they had all agreed that he'd only bring it out if the situation was dire and there was no other weapon for him to use. The sound of the shot was too loud for it to be used all the time and the bullets hard to come by. Naegi shifted his gaze to the right, where Asahina stood at the ready with a hammer in hand, her own gun strapped to the side of her leg for easy access should the hammer fail her in fighting. He couldn't look behind him, wouldn't dare to, but he knew the others had their backs to each other as well, their own weapons drawn.

 

The forest was silent save for the occasional rustle of dead leaves stirred up by the wind. As a few seconds passed, Naegi was about to ask if Kirigiri had simply raised a false alarm.

Until he heard the sound of crunching leaves to his left, signaling that someone-- or something--was approaching. 

 

Finally, after several excruciating seconds, a pale white hand pushed aside a low hanging branch of leaves that had been obscuring their vision. At first, Naegi almost thought they really were just dealing with a zombie. The thing was so pale that it looked almost sickly, it's hair almost as white as it's skin and sticking out at odd angles. There was even a few leaves in it. But the pair of dull green eyes that portrayed a strange sense of curiosity and the small smile on its face was all it took to let them know that this was, in fact, an actual living being. Not a walking corpse.

 

Naegi slowly lowered his bat, though the tension didn't leave him. This person could still be dangerous. Psychopaths aren't that rare to run into nowadays.

 

“Who are you? State your name and business!” Byakuya demanded, the survival knife pointed at the stranger in an obvious threat. However, the stranger either didn't realize it was a threat or just simply didn't care.

He stepped closer, raising his hand in what looked like an attempted wave. Byakuya took a step forward as well, close enough to press the tip of the blade against the strangers chest. Naegi bristled at how close they were. Either one could hurt the other right now. It would only be a matter of who decided to do it. 

 

“Name and business,”Byakuya repeated, driving the tip further against his chest, hard enough to tear the plain white tee the stranger was wearing.

 

“Ah, right aha. My names Nagito Komaeda!” The stranger chirped, oddly cheerful despite the situation he was in, “I'm sorry if I scared you all. We heard voices and I volunteered to come and investigate. But I sure wasn't expecting to find other humans!”

 

“We?” Kirigiri said, approaching the two with slight caution. Her rifle was drawn, held at her side in an almost careless manner. But Naegi could clearly see her finger was still on the trigger.

He stepped closer as well, reaching out a hand and pushing Byakuya’s own hand down. The blond cast an angry glare at him and tried to raise the knife back up, but Naegi kept a tight grip on his friends wrist, forcing it to stay down.

 

“Yes, we as in me and my friends. We heard talking and I came out to see who it was, as I said before heh. I'm honestly glad to have found you all. We haven't seen other humans in months...Well, alive ones at least,” Komaeda said with a half hearted laugh, rubbing at the tear in his shirt, “But I apologize if I scared any of you. I have a tendency to do that.”

 

“It's fine, really,” Naegi chimed in, giving the taller male a nervous smile, “We're just as glad to have found other humans. Right guys?”

Naegi looked back at the others, unsurprised to see the hesitance on their faces, scared to trust someone they just met. He knew he should be more alert, not be so trusting of a stranger, but he couldn't help it. He genuinely was happy to see another living being. He almost thought he and his friends were the last ones out there.

 

“So, where are these friends of yours?” Kirigiri asked, stepping closer and subtly placing her foot on the ground in front of Naegi. A sign she was ready to defend him from harm if need be, considering they were the ones closest to Komaeda as of now.

 

“Back at our camp. I can take you there, if you like,” he replied, waving a hand behind him, “I'm sure they won't mind me bringing visitors.”

 

“How do we know you're telling the truth? For all we know, you could be trying to lead us into an ambush,” Byakuya hissed, once again attempting to pull his hand free from Naegi’s grip.

Once again, he failed.

 

“You're right. You all have no reason to trust me really. I'm just a stranger after all,” Komaeda said, stuffing his hands in the pockets of the long green jacket he wore, the sleeves wrinkling as he did so, “So,  go ahead and hold me hostage. Tie my hands up, tape my mouth closed, hold a knife to my throat. Whatever you need to do to make yourselves feel safe letting me lead you back to my camp.”

 

“How much you wanna bet this guys a masochist,” Fukawa muttered although it was loud enough for them all to hear. Naegi offered an apologetic smile to Komaeda, silently wishing his friends weren't this...blatantly odd at times like these.

He looked over at Kirigiri, who was tapping her chin in thought. Their eyes met, locking on each other for a few seconds before she nodded and returned her gaze to Komaeda.

 

“Turn around,” she demanded and he spun around on his heel, his hands already clasped behind him. She pulled a cord of rope from her bag, pushing his sleeves up and wrapping it directly around his wrists. Naegi noticed Komaeda wince a bit as she went. No doubt she tied it a bit tight. She left no room for errors in situations like these.

She straightened up to her full height and pressed the barrel of the rifle against his back.

"Now, you may lead us."


	2. Chapter 2

       They were silent as they walked, the only sound being from the crunching of leaves underfoot and of Fukawa muttering to herself, as she so often did. Kirigiri and Komaeda were in the lead, with Naegi and Byakuya just behind them.

Naegi had released Byakuya's wrist a few minutes ago but he could still feel the platinum blond throw a glare at him every so often. After about the fourth or fifth glare, Naegi turned his head just in time to lock eyes with him. He flashed a smile, making the taller male roll his eyes before turning back to the front. But he couldn’t stop the corners of his mouth lifting up a bit, lasting long enough for Naegi to catch a glimpse. His own smile grew and he faced the front, a little pep coming into his step. He always took great pride in getting Byakuya to smile or laugh out of pure happiness than spite or ridicule, as it was so rare to see.

 

“Hey, how long we gotta be walking? I thought your camp would be closer,” Hagakure called out from behind the two, quickening his pace a bit. He wound up between them, nearly elbowing Naegi in the head and Byakuya in the side as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his cargo pants.

 

Byakuya shot him a glare that went unnoticed, as the males attention was purely on Komaeda as he awaited a reply. Their “hostage” did his best to look back while walking, nearly tripping as Kirigiri shoved the barrel harder against his back in retaliation to his efforts.

 

“We should be there any minute now!” he chirped, forced to face the front as he nearly tripped once more.

 

    He hadn't been lying. Only five minutes later--or what felt like five minutes at least--they walked out into a a clearing filled with grass and logs, along with a single tent and a bonfire that had long since been put out. It seemed empty, not a single other person in sight, and Naegi briefly wondered if they really had been lied to and Komaeda was about to pull some crazy assassin moves that freed himself and let him grab Kirigiri's gun, or maybe even a weapon of his own--

 

“Hagime! Chiaki! It’s safe, don’t worry! You can come out!” Komaeda suddenly called, startling everyone in their group. Naegi saw Byakuya lay a hand on the side of his suit jacket, the survival knife tucked under it in a hidden pocket he had helped to make (It was literally just a rip in the fabric underneath that let Byakuya hide the knife inside. It wasn’t very comfortable nor was it very safe, but he found it handy.).  

 

The others looked ready to pull out their own weapons and Kirigiri’s finger was tensing on the trigger. Naegi started to slowly reach for his baseball bat, his eyes flicking around the area in search of whoever Komaeda was calling out to. He jumped at the sound of feet thumping against the dirt at an alarming pace, quickly followed by a scream. They spun around and Naegi sucked in a breath.  
A tall male with messy brown hair that stuck up in a way similar to Naegi’s own, dull yellow eyes, and a strangely flushed complexion had one arm wrapped around Fukawa’s torso, trapping her arms at her side as she squirmed in his grasp.

His other hand held a gun to her head.

Naegi glanced back at Kirigiri upon hearing the shuffling of feet behind him, not surprised to see she had taken up a similar pose with Komaeda, though the rifle pressed under his chin seemed a lot more menacing than the regular handgun the stranger possessed. Byakuya pulled Naegi out of the way so the stranger could get a clear view of her, the others having already moved to the side. The stranger scowled, the gun dipping a bit before he steadied his grip, though his hand remained shaky.

 

“He doesn’t want to do this,” Naegi muttered, loud enough for only Byakuya to hear.

 

“Noted but that doesn’t excuse the fact he’s actually doing it,” he hissed back. His hands remained empty and clenched at his side. A knife was pretty much useless as of right now.

 

“It seems we’ve run into a bit of a predicament here,” Kirigiri said, her voice calm despite the circumstances, “I believe that's my friend you’ve got hostage there.”

 

“And I believe that’s _my_ friend you’ve got there. Seems like we’re even right now,” the stranger said, his voice hesitant,” ...Listen, just let him go. I don’t want to hurt anyone but if I need to, as cliche as it sounds, I will.”

 

“Hey, thi-this must just be a misunderstanding,” Naegi spoke up, stepping in between the two with raised hands, “We had no intention of hurting your friend. We just tied him up for safety measures. You understand, right?”

 

“Yeah, he practically begged us to tie him up anyways,” Hagakure added, practically hiding behind Asahina, who looked unamused but worried.

 

The stranger muttered something to himself, too far off for Naegi to hear, though he saw Fukawa hold back a snort at his words. Unfortunately, this led to her sneezing. Naegi heard a brief groan from Byakuya as Fukawa went limp in the strangers arms, eliciting a yelp of alarm from him. After a few seconds, she lifted her head, and Naegi only just saw the mischievous grin on her face before the stranger was suddenly sent flying onto the floor.  
It had happened so quickly that it took everyone, the stranger included, to really process what just happened.

 

“Jeez! You're as light as a stick kid!” Fukawa laughed--or rather-- _Sho_ laughed, “Can’t believe Fukawa wasn’t able to break out of a weak ass grip like yours!”

 

“To be fair, you didn’t break out of his grip. You tossed him over your shoulder,” Asahina chimed, seemingly unfazed by the change in their friends personality.

And that Sho had done. Sho, a menacing murderer in a puny 5’4” teenage girls body, had managed to flip the stranger over her shoulder and onto the ground in front of her.

 

He looked shaken, looking as though he was still trying to figure out what happened. Naegi couldn’t blame him. It must be alarming to suddenly get taken down by someone who had looked like such an easy target. He hurried over and held a hand out to the stranger, who flinched at the movement. He gave him a small smile.

“I don’t bite.”

 

The stranger narrowed his eyes at him for a moment before slowly taking Naegi’s hand.

“Your friend over there sure does,” he grunted as Naegi helped him up, brushing dirt off the plain gray sweater he wore, which was torn at the elbow and fraying at the cuffs.

 

“How is it that you always manage to make a friend out of an enemy,” Byakuya sighed, stepping over and pointedly placing his hand on Naegi’s shoulder whilst glaring at the stranger. The stranger offered a nervous smile in return.

“It only took five minutes this time,” he continued, looking back down at his friend, “You’re either getting better at befriending people or this stranger here is a big sap.”

 

“I can’t tell if that's a compliment or an insult,” the stranger muttered, eliciting a snort from Naegi. Byakuya’s eyebrows rose and he pulled his hand off Naegi’s shoulder so quickly, it was as though he had been burned. Maybe he had. His cheeks were flushing.

 

Naegi quirked an eyebrow at him, a bemused smile slipping onto his face as Byakuya turned his head away. Had the strangers comment caused that reaction? Surely not. It hadn’t seemed like the type of thing that might...embarrass Byakuya? Was he embarrassed about something? Is that why his face was red?  
Naegi was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of someone clearing their throat. They all turned to see Kirigiri, the rifle still pressed under a smiling Komaeda’s chin, but Naegi could see her finger was loose on the trigger. She didn’t intend to harm him. Naegi and Kirigiri locked eyes and he nodded, his smile growing as a small smile of her own slipped onto her face.

She lowered the rifle and pushed Komaeda forward. He stumbled and nearly lost his footing but managed to save himself the embarrassment as the stranger ran forward to steady him. The two exchanged soft smiles before the stranger began untying him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one can tell me that Naegi doesn't  
> 1) Snort when he laughs and  
> 2) Is incredibly good at reading people but god awful when it comes to reading love
> 
> Feedback and constructive criticism is always welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

“Thank you Hajime,” Komaeda said as the rope fell to the ground,pulling his sleeves up to rub at the red welts that had formed around his wrists, “Where’s Chiaki?”

“Hiding. Told her to just in case things...went a bit south here,” Hajime, as they now knew, replied. He stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled in three short bursts. A few seconds after, a short, pale haired girl wearing a green hoodie with a plain dress shirt under it and worn jeans hopped down from a nearby tree, landing in a bush with only a small grunt of annoyance.

She was quick to pull herself out, brushing leaves out of her hair and hood as she walked over to her companions.

“Glad to see you safe Komaeda,” she said, her voice so soft it was almost hard to hear, “Hajime was worried you had died. He was very close to crying about your possible death before you showed up.”

“H-Hey! Don’t go spreading lies!” Hajime cried, pulling her hood farther down on her head so it covered her face as she chuckled. Komaeda smiled down at Hajime with something akin to adoration and his face went red, suddenly finding great interest in the ground and keeping his eyes glued to it.

The three snapped to attention as Kirigiri cleared her throat, looking sheepish upon realizing their intimate actions had been watched.

“I’m glad to see you all reunite, but I feel that we all now have something to discuss,” she said, tucking her rifle into the sling across her back with an air of expertise that seemed to make Hajime nervous, his hand reaching for Komaeda’s before withdrawing and stuffing it into his pockets, “I’m sure that none of us are very eager to part with other survivors so soon.”

“Why of course! Finding other survivors after months of only seeing walking corpses is a truly wonderful thing!” Komaeda said, a grin slipping onto his face, “ It increases our chance of survival, that I’m sure of. Especially since you all seem to have an immense amount of skill when it comes to fighting and handling your weapons.”

“Your admiration is noted,” Byakuya said with a roll of his eyes, his face having returned to its usual color, although he still refused to even glance down at Naegi,”And while I understand why we may be so quick to latch on to other humans, I do feel it’s in our best interest to go our separate ways and continue on as before.”

“What?! Why in the world would we do that?” Hagakure cried, his mouth curving into a bewildered smile, “Dude! It’s other humans! We need to stick with them!”

“We have absolutely no reason to trust them. You were there when the short one was threatening to kill Fukawa, right?” he said, pressing a finger against the bridge of his glasses as he pushed them back up.

“You guys had my friend captive! What, did you expect me to  _ not _ try and do something to save him?” Hajime spoke up, taking a step forward. Komaeda wrapped a hand around his arm, forcing him to a halt. He threw a glare back at his friend, who simply pursed his lips at him. 

“We weren’t planning on harming him,” Byakuya said, as though it had been obvious. Naegi knew it hadn’t been. To Hajime and Chiaki, it must have looked like they were ready to blow a hole through Komaeda at any moment. In a rush of desperation to do anything to try and save him, Hajime had obviously thought threatening to do the same might help--might get them to just hand the hostages over to their rightful friends. Which likely would’ve happened had it not been for Sho’s appearance.

“Hey, let’s just...calm down, ok?” Naegi said, placing a hand on Byakuya’s arm and giving it a bit of a firm squeeze of warning. Byakuya tsked but said nothing more, stepping back a bit so their eyes would be on Naegi.

“Listen, it’s getting late,” Naegi continued, waving a hand at the sky while looking around at the others, “We’re all tired and a bit shaken up. Maybe it’d be best if we just...sleep on it. Try and get some rest and then talk about all this in the morning.”

“Sleep don’t sound too bad right now,” Hagakure said with a small laugh, rubbing the back of his neck, “My brain  _ and _ my legs hurt dude.”

“Yeah, my legs feel like jelly and I barely know why!” Sho complained, crossing her arms and pouting around her tongue, which hung out of her mouth as it usually did when she was present.

“Is it wise for us to rest when we're around three complete strangers?” Byakuya scowled, his irritation growing worse.

“The same could be said for all of you,” Hajime said, practically glaring daggers at Byakuya, “You all outnumber me and my friends. You guys could kill us any moment if you wanted to and we'd have no chance of making it out unscathed.”

“Fair point,” Kirigiri hummed, a fist pressed to her chin in thought, “I also feel it’d be wise for us to rest. But it’s obvious we all still lack trust in one another, not to mention the only place that looks mildly comfortable to sleep in is that single tent over there. So, I suggest we take shifts. It’s simple really. Keeps us safe from each other and from the undead.”

“One person from my group,” she continued, “And one person from your group Hajime. It’ll be the same each cycle. One person from our group, one person from yours, and so forth. We can switch every hour until the sun rises.”

Everyone was silent, mulling over Kirigiri’s suggestion. It seemed logical, in a sense. But it still left too much room for unease. Unease so thick that Naegi could practically feel it.  
He had to do something. If they couldn't learn to trust one another, then they'd all be as good as dead.

“Hajime,” Naegi spoke up, startling the brunete, “How about you and I take the first shift. You can even invite the rest of your friends to join us on watch if you feel unsafe around me.”

“It's not you I'm worried about,” Hajime muttered, his eyes flicking from Byakuya to Kirigiri and then back to the ground. A reasonable untrust. KirigirI almost killed his friend and Byakuya was obviously not taking very kindly to them.

“But I’ll take you up on that offer,” he said, his begrudging tone exposing his reluctance.

“Glad we were able to work something out,” Kirigiri said, shooting a thankful smile at Naegi, “Now, how about we head over to the tent and sort out sleeping arrangements.”

They began shuffling over to said tent, Hajime and his friends taking the lead. Naegi moved to join them but was held back with a firm grip on his arm.

“Something wrong Byakuya?” Naegi asked without looking back, the grip on his arm loosening enough for him to gently pull away. Turning, he was met with piercing blue eyes that reminded Naegi of frozen lakes. He was...going to get lectured wasn’t he?

Byakuya would go on and on about how unsafe his offer was and insist he join Naegi on watch. They’d go back and forth until, eventually, Naegi gave in and let Byakuya have his way with only a few modifications. He’s been through this enough, so many times he could more or less anticipate his friends questions and suggestions--or rather--demands.  
And for once, Naegi couldn’t find it in himself to let Byakuya to do it again. They’ve finally found other survivors and he was in no way going to let their chances of becoming friends with them be ruined by a constant sense of paranoia.  
Byakuya opened his mouth, ready to argue his heart and soul out until things went his way. But Naegi held his hand up, letting it hover inches away from Byakuya’s mouth.

“Byaku--Togami. I know you’re worried. You’re scared we could be putting ourselves in danger by trusting them. But, be reasonable here. You saw them. Willing to do anything for their friends. So long as we don’t hurt them, I'm fairly sure they won't hurt us,” Naegi rushed, wanting to get his word in before Togami found a way to interrupt.

To his surprise, the blond was silent even as he lowered his hand, looking down at Naegi with something he couldn’t quite place. Confusion. Irritability. Something else was mixed in his expression but he couldn’t read it. He remained still for a second longer before letting out a tsk and stalking off towards the tent.  
At least he didn’t try to argue. Naegi considers this a win.

\---

Soon enough, they managed to sort out enough space in the tent for everyone to sleep semi-comfortably. Fukawa had taken the limited space as an excuse to practically drape herself over Byakuya like some sort of weird blanket, the blond being less than pleased with the arrangements but unable to get up to try and do anything about it. Hajime had forced Komaeda and Chiaki to stay in the tent, Naegi having heard him practically yelling at them to get some sleep.  
Finally, the mutters of annoyance and reluctance died down with the sun, leaving Naegi and Hajime seated by the fire with the crackling of the flames being the only thing to fill the silence. Naegi fiddled with the ends of his bangs, casting occasional glances at Hajime, who was more focused on the fire.

….Naegi couldn’t bear the silence.

“So,” he said, Hajime jumping in response, “ how’d you meet your friends?”

Hajime was silent and for a moment Naegi wondered if he was purposely going to avoid talking to him for the rest of the shift.

“Komaeda and I went to the same high school,” he replied and Naegi shifted his gaze over to him, “Our school was put on lockdown once everything started going to shit but, eventually, those...walking corpses got in. Me and Komaeda barely made it out alive. In fact, we’d be as good as dead had it not been for Chiaki.”

“She saved us,” Hajime continued, stretching his legs out and picking at a loose thread on his jeans, “Komaeda and I wound up stuck in a classroom with zombies at the door. The windows had been boarded up when we went under lockdown so it was practically impossible for us to escape. We didn’t even have weapons. But, like some kind of short, annoying angel, Chiaki fell through the ceiling and onto me. She’d snuck into the school to try and find supplies but wound up climbing into the ceiling vents to get past some zombies. She hadn’t even planned on saving us but, at that point, she felt bad and helped us into the vents so we could get out with her.”

“That’s...quite a story,” Naegi said with a chuckle, a smile growing on his face upon seeing Hajime share in his laughter.

“Yeah, guess it is but, at the time, not really the craziest thing that's happened,” he said, shrugging before looking over to Naegi, “So, what about you? How’d you meet all your friends?”

“Ah, it’s a bit of a long story.”

“We’re gonna be out here a while. Feel free to tell it.”

Naegi let out another small laugh before pursing his lips and casting his gaze upwards at the star-riddled sky. He met everyone a little more than a few months ago, when the world fell apart, yet it felt like they’d all been friends for years. It was strange but in a way that felt...welcome. A good kind of strange.

“Well, I met Fukawa first-”

“Hajime.”

Naegi jumped and turned his head, letting out a sigh of relief upon seeing it was just Chiaki, albeit a sleepy one. She rubbed at her eyes as she walked over to the two, plopping onto the ground beside Hajime.

“Go inside. You too Naegi. Have Kirigiri take your place,” she said, the sudden demands startling Naegi a bit. She was a lot more commanding than she looked.

“Wh-What? Why?” Hajime asked.

“Komaeda can’t sleep. Neither can Kirigiri. It seems only logical for her to spend her energy out here and for you, Hajime, to head inside and help Komaeda fall asleep,” she explained, pulling up the hood of her jacket, “Just go in. You two need rest anyways.”

“You do too, possibly even more than I do-”

Chiaki slapped her hand onto his mouth, Hajime letting out a muffled yelp in response.

“Go. Sleep. Now,” she said, lowering her hand and shoving Hajime’s shoulder to try and get him moving. Hajime shot Naegi an incredulous look and he shrugged in response, pulling himself to his feet and heading towards the tent. Hajime sighed behind him before standing and following suit.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Forgetting to post this?  
> Incredibly likely I'm so sorry

         Naegi didn’t feel rested in the slightest once morning finally came. His arms and back ached and he had a dull headache, not to mention, one of his sleeves was wet from where Hagakure had drooled on it. The damn guy had ended up rolling onto Naegi’s arm while they slept and no one had bothered to wake him for a shift. Chiaki and Kirigiri had taken over for most of the night, yet they both looked as though they hadn’t missed a wink of sleep.

Kirigiri had even been the one to come and wake them all, stepping into the tent and slowly nudging everyone awake with just the heel of her boot. Eventually, everyone was gathered outside, huddled close to each other to try and combat the morning chill. Naegi wagered it was nearly fall, what with the leaves around them slowly turning orange and the air growing colder as days passed. He made his way over to where Togami was standing, offering a small smile to Hajime, Komaeda, and Chiaki as he passed them. He was more than relieved when they all smiled in return.

He noticed that Komaeda was missing his jacket, revealing the plain white tee underneath,  and briefly wondered if he left it behind in the tent before realizing that it was draped over Hajime’s shoulders. The brunet seemed reluctant to even be wearing it, occasionally trying to slip it off, but Komaeda just moved it back onto his shoulders, giving Hajime a small pout that made his face go a bit red. Naegi chuckled and continued walking,realizing he had slowed his pace while observing them.

“Good morning Togami!” he greeted, not surprised when he didn’t even get a smile or hum of acknowledgment in return. He stood by his taller friend, pulling up the hood of his jacket as he watched everyone shuffle about in half-asleep dazes. 

His gaze landed on Kirigiri, who seemed to have started up a conversation with Chiaki and Hajime, Komaeda standing a little ways off and making idle chit-chat with Asahina, though his eyes kept flicking towards the three. Naegi wondered what they were talking about. It surely couldn’t be friendly banter, Kirigiri never was one to start that, plus Komaeda would likely be with them as well had it been so. He decided against walking over and trying to include himself. He trusted that she’d inform them of whatever it was she was discussing with those two.

 

He was right to trust in her. Minutes later, Kirigiri walked into the center of the group, clapping her hands together to attract everyone's attention. Once everyone had their eyes on her, she began speaking.

“It has come to my attention that we are likely all in need of some food. Unfortunately, this camp is low on supplies as of current and none of us really have food that will be enough for us all,” she said, eliciting nervous mutters between a few of their friends, primarily Hagakure and Asahina, “However, I’ve been informed that there’s a river not too far off. Chiaki told me they’ve caught fish there before and there is likely to be more. Seeing as we need food, sending a few people out to the river seems like the most logical solution. In fact, I’ve already organized a team for it.”

So that must’ve been what she was talking to those two about. Naegi already had an inkling on who this team might compose of.

“Naegi, Togami, you’ll be accompanying Hajime and Chiaki to the river,” she continued and Togami scowled, though he said nothing in protest. Naegi was sure he was silently glad to be included.

With Togami remaining silent on the matter, no one else seemed to have any objections to their plan and Kirigiri smiled.

Maybe things would be getting better from here on out.

 

It wasn’t long before Naegi found himself trekking through the woods behind Hajime(who was still wearing Komaeda’s sweater) and Chiaki, Togami following close beside him. Naegi could practically feel the tension radiating off his friend, the males posture being even more rigid than usual and his eyes darting nervously about at every little noise. He practically jumped out of his skin when Chiaki stepped on a dead leaf, eliciting a fair bit of laughter from the three of them that Togami didn’t partake in. He’d muttered something or other about naivety. But then he glanced down at Naegi, who was still chuckling, and his irritation seemed to diminish just a small amount. Enough to keep him from getting too mad at least.

 

Finally, they reached the rivers side, and Naegi smiled at the sight. It was a fairly wide river, one that led into a much larger lake. The area around the river was littered with rocks, big and small, but the area around the lake was muddy, with what looked like wet sand clumping together the farther it was from the shore. He felt something be shoved into his hands, looking down and seeing it was the net that Chiaki had brought with them. Hajime held the other.

“Togami, you can stay here with Hajime to try and get fish from the river. Me and Naegi can go check out the lake,” Chiaki said, bringing Naegi’s attention back to their little group. He instinctively placed a hand on Togami’s arm and was happy to hear only a small grumble of annoyance from the blond in response to Chiaki’s commands.

The other two seemed just as relieved, Hajime even letting out a small breath he must’ve been holding, though he frowned afterwards. He didn’t seem too thrilled to be stuck with Byakuya but Naegi couldn’t say he was surprised.

“Be nice to Hajime, ok?” Naegi said in a teasing manner, patting Byakuya’s arm. He laughed as Byakuya swatted at his hand, turning and beginning to make his way towards the lake. Chiaki and Hajime exchanged a few words before going their separate ways; Hajime leading Togami further down the river and Chiaki hurrying after Naegi.

 

   She fell into step beside him, pulling up her hood as she looked out over the lake. Naegi realized that this is his first time alone with Chiaki, seeing this as an opportunity to befriend her as he did Hajime.

“The lakes pretty, huh,”he said, noticing where her gaze was.

“.....I guess,” she said, shrugging a bit and looking away, directing her gaze to the ground. Ok, so that didn't go as planned. He'd been hoping for a little more of a reply but, he'll make do with what he's got.

“So, I've heard you're the one who saved Hajime and Komaeda in the school they were trapped in,” he said and the ghost of a smile appeared on Chiaki's lips.

“Yeah. I'm glad for that actually. If I hadn't, I would have never found my closest friends to ever exist,” she said.

She came to a sudden halt, looking back to the lake before turning and walking closer to the shore.

“Now come on, we have fish to catch.”

Naegi thought he had said something wrong until Chiaki looked back at him, a genuine smile gracing her face now. Naegi smiled back and hurried to her side.

**Author's Note:**

> Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated! This is more or less the first fan work I've ever done so feedback as to how to work with premise characthErs or just how to improve my writing in general is very much appreciated.


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